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Merton's "True Self": Moral Autonomy and Religious ConversionAuthor(s): Walter E. ConnSource:
The Journal of Religion,
Vol. 65, No. 4 (Oct., 1985), pp. 513-529Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1203068
Accessed: 15/10/2009 07:32
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Merton's"TrueSelf":MoralAutonomyandReligiousConversion
Walter
E.Conn
VillanovaUniversity
The relation betweenmoralityandreligionor,toputit morespecifi-callyinpersonal,existentialterms,between moralautonomyandreli-gioussurrenderisa difficult andlong-standingquestion.1InthisessayIattemptto illuminate thedevelopmentalaspectof thisrelationship byfocusingon aparticular,concrete instance of itinthe life andthoughtof the mature Thomas Merton.Mydevelopmentalframeofreferencewillbe LawrenceKohlberg'scognitive-developmental theoryof moralreasoning.Inits broadestterms,Kohlberg's theoryoutlines normativeprogressionfrom thechild'segocentric, preconventionalmoral orientation ofpunishmentandreward,throughtheconventionalorientationofinterpersonalapprovalandsocial order maintenancetypicalof most Americanadults,to therarelyachievedautonomous,postconventionalorientation ofuniversalethicalprinciples.Inaddition to the criticalperspectiveof advancedcognitive developmentnecessaryforquestioningconventional moral-ity,Kohlbergclaimsthat movement toautonomous,postconventionalmoralityalsorequiresspecificallyadultexperiencesofresponsibility,ofmakingirreversible decisionsfor one's own andothers' lives.Eventhemostadequate postconventionalmoralorientation,however,cannotanswer thequestion,Whybe moral? This isfinallynot a moralquestionat allbut anontologicalorreligious questionabout the mean-ingoflife. ThisquestionhasledKohlbergtosuggestapostconven-tionalreligiousorientation,acosmic(asopposedto auniversalhuman-
1For agood surveyof the centralissues,see GeneOutkaandJohnP.Reeder,Jr.,eds.,ReligionndMorality.ACollectionfEssays GardenCity,N.Y.:Doubleday&Co.,AnchorBooks,1973).For adiscussionof one dimension of thequestionespecially pertinentto thepresent essay,seeWalter E.Conn,"MoralDevelopmentasSelf-Transcendence,"Horizons4(Fall 1977):180-205.?1985byTheUniversityofChicago.Allrightsreserved.0022-4189/85/6504-0003$01.00
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istic)perspectiverootedin nondualisticcontemplative experience.Here Iwillspeakof the radicalmovementto such an orientation asareligioussurrenderor conversion.2Within thisdevelopmentalcontext,then,the thesisIwillexplicateinMerton's laterlife is thatgenuinereligioussurrender(Kohlberg'spost-conventionalcosmicorientation)denies not(postconventional)moralautonomybutonlythe illusionof itsabsoluteness. Inreligiousconver-sion moralautonomyisrelativized,not sacrificed.Authentic self-realizationincludesbothmoralautonomyand the surrenderof itsabsolute claimsinreligiousconversion.I will first considerMerton'sdevelopmentfrom a conventionaltoapostconventionalmoral orienta-tion(I),thenexamine his reflections onreligiousconversionand sur-render(II),andfinallyconcludeby integratingthesetwo dimensionsinacriticallyredefined version ofMerton'simageof the"true self"(III).
I.MORAL AUTONOMY:CRITICALSOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Conjectures faGuiltyBystander,he title of Merton'sjournal-likevolumeofreflectionspublishedin1966,is indicative ofone of themajordevel-opmentsthatwastakingplaceinMerton's lifeduringthe late 1950sandearly1960s-anemergingawarenessof,concernfor,andinvolve-mentinthesocial andpoliticaldimensions oflife,especiallytheissuesof racism andpeace.3Inorder to understand thisemergenceof criticalsocialconsciousnessinthematureMerton,we mustrecall notonlytheyoungMerton's con-cern about Harlem and the outbreak of WorldWar IIbeforehe "lefttheworld" forthemonastery,but also hispositivereassessment of "theworld,"hisprofoundtransformationalexperienceof1949-50,andthecontinuing growthof hiscriticalthinking, especiallyasconnectedwith
2
For a brief statement of thepreconventional,conventional,andpostconventionalmoralorientations,see theappendixinLawrenceKohlberg,ThePhilosophyfMoralDevelopmentSanFrancisco:Harper&Row,1981),pp.344-72.Amongthemanypresentationsof thegeneraltheory,aparticularly helpfulone is LawrenceKohlberg,"MoralDevelopmentandMoralization:TheCognitive-Developmental Approach,"inMoralDevelopmentndBehavior:Theory,Research,ndSocialssues,ed. Thomas Lickona(NewYork:Holt,Rinehart &Winston,1976),pp.31-53.Ontherequirementsforpostconventional morality,seeLawrenceKohlberg,"Continuitiesn Child-hood andAdultMoralDevelopmentRevisited,"inLife-SpanDevelopmentalsychology.ersonalityandSocialization,d.P. B. Baltes and K. W. Schaie(NewYork: AcademicPress,1973),pp.179-204,at196.Formyassessment ofKohlberg,see WalterE.Conn,"MoralReasoningandMoralAction:ACriticalAnalysisofKohlberg's TheoryofMoralDevelopment,"inSocialDevel-opmentnYouth.StructurendContent,d.J.A.Meacham andN.R.Santilli,ContributionstoHumanDevelopment5(Basel:S.Karger, 1981), pp.100-112,whichincludesreferencestothemostimportant critiques.3ThomasMerton,ConjecturesfaGuiltyBystander1966; reprint,GardenCity,N.Y.:Double-day&co.,ImageBooks,1968).
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